Past Exhibitions

 
All About Shoes: Footwear Through the Ages – Permanent Exhibition

Temporary Exhibitions:

 
 
Exhibit A: Investigating Crime & Footwear
April 2024 – September 2025

Dressed To Impress: Footwear and Consumerism In The 1980s
October 2023 – March 2025

In Bloom: Flowers and Footwear
April 2023 – September 2024

Obsessed: How Shoes Became Objects of Desire
October 2022 – March 2024

Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks
May 2022 – April 2023

The Great Divide: Footwear in The Age of Enlightenment
August 2020 – March 2023

All Dolled Up: Fashioning Cultural Expectations
October 2021 – October 2022

Art & Innovation: Traditional Arctic Footwear from the BSM Collection
February 2010 to April 2022

The Gold Standard: Glittering Footwear From Around the Globe
December 2017 – September 2021

WANT: Desire, Design and Depression Era Footwear
January 2019 – April 2020

Manolo Blahnik: The Art of Shoes
May 2018 – January 2019

Standing Tall: The Curious History of Men in Heels
May 2015 – November 2017

Fashion Victims: The Pleasures and Perils of 19th Century Dress
June 2014 – April 2018

Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture
April 2013 to June 2014

Collected in the Field: Shoemaking Traditions from Around the World
January 2013 – April 2015

Roger Vivier: Process to Perfection
May 2012 – April 2013

The Roaring 20’s: Hemlines, Heels and High Hopes
April 2011 – January 2012

Art in Shoes/Shoes in Art
October 2010 – May 2012

Socks: Between You and Your Shoes
March 2010 – April 2011

On a Pedestal: From Renaissance Chopines to Baroque Heels
November 2009 – September 2010

On Pointe: The Rise of the Ballet Shoe
April 2008 – February 2009

Beauty, Identity, Pride: Native North American Footwear
November 2007 – January 2016

Chronicles of Riches: Treasures from the Bata Shoe Museum Collection
January 2007 – October 2009

The Charm of Rococo: Femininity and Footwear in the 18th century
June 2006 – April 2008

Watched by Heaven, Tied to Earth: Summoning Animal Protection for Chinese Children
March 2006 – October 2007

Icons of Elegance: Influential Shoe Designers of the 20th century
September 2005 – January 2007

Paths Across the Plains: Native Footwear of the Great Plains
2004–2005

The Perfect Pair: Wedding Shoe Stories
2002–2004

Heights of Fashion: A History of the Elevated Foot
2001

Every Step a Lotus: Shoes in the Lives of Chinese Women from Late Imperial China
2001

Design A Foot: Athletic Shoes 1995-2000
December 2000 – September 2001

Paduka: Feet and Footwear in the Indian Tradition
July 1999 – June 2000

Herbert and Beth Levine: An American Pair
June 1999 – December 1999

Japanese Footgear: Walking the Path of Innovation
February 1999 – January 2000

Footsteps on the Sacred Earth: Native Peoples of the Southwest
July 1998 – June 1999

Little Feats: A Celebration of Children’s Shoes
October 1998 – May 1999

Spirit of Siberia
June 1997 – June 1998

Dance! Minuet to Disco
March 1997 – February 1999

The Taming of the Shoe: From Attic to Exhibition
November 1997 – October 1998

Footwear Fantasia: Shoe Sculptures by Garry Greenwood
April – November 1997

Loose Tongues and Lost Soles: Shoes in Cartoon and Caricature
Spring – Fall 1997

Dance: Social Dance from 1750 – 1980
March 1997 – February 1999

Rock n’ Sole: Basketball Shoes
February 1997 – November 1997

Tradition and Innovation: Northern Athapaskan Footwear
June 1996 –June 1997

Shoe Dreams: Designs by Andrea Pfister
May 1996 – January 1997

The Gentle Step: 19th Century Women’s Shoes
May 1995 – February 1997

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe: Illustrations from Contemporary Children’s Books about Shoes
May 1995 – April 1996

Inuit Boots: A Woman’s Art
May 1995 – May 1996